*****
"You want to do what?" Sean's brows were raised in shock that mirrored everyone else's beside him.
"This wasn't my idea." I frowned towards Ashton who raised his hands and shrugged at me when our eyes met. "You literally just brought this up."
"First for me too," Richard said from the screen beside me.
"You want... to let two Betas run a pack?" Jason asked slowly, as if trying to confirm what we had just said.
I stood beside Karabo surrounded by elders and retired and current leaders from my pack, we had decided to call a duel pack meeting, with his pack's current leaders and elders joining us via webcam. We just explained our plan of having Ashton and Richard co-Beta and Karabo and I co-Alpha for a period of time before we swapped packs after a year or so.
"Our pack?" one of the Letsela pack Elders asked. I still had to learn their names. He didn't look too impressed by our suggestion.
"Yes, Morris, but only for a period of time and then they will run Galaxy and we'll take over Letsela." Karabo said.
"So... like a part-time thing?" my dad said, his scepticism matching Morris'.
"For long periods of time," I said and lifted my hands before anyone more could speak. "What we're saying is we've thought about it and we think it will be a very positive change if we combine packs; we'll be on two continents, we'll grow much faster, we share battles, land and secrets. Basically, we'll be so much stronger and bigger."
"Until two Betas unnecessarily get killed by one enemy Alpha." I felt a little betrayed when one of Galaxy's Elders said that but glanced over at the Ashton who was currently standing with his jaw clenched looking both confused – probably still because of our suggestion – and somewhat angered by what was said.
"They're strong. They're two of the strongest Betas in the world; they're much stronger than some Alphas." I argued.
The room was quiet and I glanced at Karabo feeling his nervousness and worry, he was trying to hide it so badly, I was actually proud I was the only one that could tell how worried he was.
"Tell you what," I turned as someone on the screen behind me spoke.
'Army Delta, Zain.' Karabo linked to me. He looked like one of the elders, so I assumed he was long retired.
"We'll have a fight," Zain said.
"A fight?" Ashton asked.
"Yes. We know you can't win, but it would be reassuring to know you can at least hold your own against our Alpha – well, one of our Alphas." Zain explained. It was small and he still looked sceptical but I was glad at least one of our pack members had just referred to Karabo and me as a collective, it gave me hope that he already thought we would be able to merge despite his proposal.
"You mean fight Eli?" I raised my brows at Ashton's question.
"Fight Karabo." The man corrected, "Richard would have to fight Eli."
I held back a sigh. I figured they would say something, but had not guessed it would be this. My eyes shifted to Richard's face and I could tell he was looking at me on their own screen.
"Uh..." Sean's voice cleared behind me. "Fight... to prove that they can defend against other Alphas, I presume?" he asked.
"Exactly."
"That... actually seems like a really good idea," Jason said.
"Of course, to be fair there would be no magic usage." My father added, I knew the response he would get before he even finished speaking.
"I don't mind magic." Karabo and Richard immediately spoke in unison. Ah, that pride.
"Are you implying we aren't strong enough to take on your kind?" Matthew – a vocal man that Karabo had informed me was an elder, retired delta of security – asked narrowing his eyes.
Oh, Crap.
"We'll do it," I spoke up before anyone could reply to what Matthew had said. Karabo looked at me questioning why I had just decided for all four of us. 'They were going to start a bigger fight than necessary' I linked to him.
He pursed his lips turning back to everyone before he gave a nod and a confident, "I agree."
"They can take us," I added.
"You sound so certain. Are you a weak Alpha?" Another of Karabo's Elders asked cocking one of his brows.
"No. I just know what my Beta is capable of." I glanced at Ashton and saw him smirk.
Karabo scoffed making me turn to him. He must have assumed I was implying he would be an easy fight for Ashton. "We both know." His tone was slightly insulting, "Use your magic, Rich can still take you," he said. I forgot about clearing up what I had mistakenly implied and turned to him.
"Ha. Be careful. We may only have one Beta left after this." I said seriously.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine. I wouldn't do that to your sister." He easily flipped that back to me.
"You couldn't do –"
"Alright, calm down." Sean pushed us apart.
I hadn't even realised we had moved closer to each other. Were we actually going to fight? He was baiting though... Yes, so was I, but he was supposed to be the more rational Alpha between us. Karabo and I shared glares at each other but Sean stepped into our line of sight giving each of us a stern frown.
"You'd think we asked them to fight each other." Matthew laughed.
"They're all too keen to, aren't they?" My father asked from nearby.
I tilted my head to look past Sean at my mate who stared back with narrowed eyes. I could feel a slight annoyance coming from him but was suddenly fascinated by how he looked when he was somewhat angry or serious. It reminded me of watching him talk to Seth days ago and I kind of wanted to continue to piss him off just to see more of his authoritative Alpha side. It was always so hard to believe this Alpha was the same person I always found adorable and somewhat childish. At the moment, he was pretty attractive with his darkened eyes sharply glaring at me.
How is it that I found him so sexy and wanted to fight him at the same time? I smiled at that and it seemed to make Karabo break into laughter.
"When?" I turned to Ashton as he spoke, I'd almost forgotten what we were all doing.
"Where?" That was Richard.
"They're so eager to meet their demise," I muttered.
"They are." Karabo looked at Ashton.
"I thought you said they could take you?" my dad spoke amused.
"I figured they needed the ego boost." I shrugged.
Ashton grunted rolling his eyes. "You Alphas talk a lot." It made Karabo and me chuckle.
"On a serious note," Sean spoke up drawing everyone's attention back to him, "this is to prove that Richard and Ashton can handle taking care of either pack by themselves. You have to take this seriously and go all out, and if we feel like you're going easy on them at any point..." Sean's serious gaze moved between me and Karabo.
"We'll assume they aren't capable and we'll stick to the way the packs are run right now, there will be no merge." Matthew finished.
Karabo and I exchanged glances again. His pack had not been attacked when we left Richard and Ashton in charge, so the elders were right. We needed to know they could handle Alphas in case that happened eventually and it probably would.
"Alright," Ashton said.
"I'm in." Richard agreed.
I hesitated as everyone looked at me to confirm again. No holding back? What if I made a mistake? What if I hurt him? What if I couldn't hurt him? What if I lost it for a moment and he beat me? I felt my heart sink at the thought of looking weak in front of everyone again, the sudden, quick-building anxiety in my chest making it hard to breathe.
"Changed your minds?" Corey asked.
"No..." Karabo said slowly. "I'm in."
"Eli?" My father's eyes moved to me.
I looked at Richard. I was stronger than before, and they said magic could be used. I could be pretty reckless and impulsive when it came to fighting and what if my wolf took control? I wasn't the type of Alpha that left people alive like Karabo did, but Richard wasn't an enemy, even my wolf would be able to tell the difference... right? Richard smiled at me assuringly, his brows raising. He almost looked eager and that calmed me down just a little bit.
"I'll do it too," I said hiding my uncertainty.
"Great. Clara, could you see if there are any seats open on flights today?" Sean spoke to our secretary.
"Today?" my voice was shaded by Karabo's. I looked at him. I didn't have a problem leaving so soon, I had a problem leaving him so soon.
"Yes, the sooner you fight, the sooner we can prove that this was the dumbest idea ever suggested by not one, but two Alphas." A man sitting next to Matthew said.
I looked at Sean and Corey and they just shrugged. They agreed. I clenched my jaw.
"Okay," I said. Had Ashton been training properly all this time? He had literally no time to prepare to fight Karabo. He better have been training, I wanted to prove everyone wrong.
"Our fights are at the same time." Karabo stated, "Thank you all for joining us." he added and we gave respectful nods to the people on the screen and around us in the room. I opened my mouth to tell Karabo and Ashton to follow me but my father spoke.
"One more thing," We all looked at him, "there will be no contact between Alphas and Betas until you fight."
Damn it, he knew me so well. I was going to suggest we share some of our usual fighting methods so Ashton and Richard knew what to expect, giving them a bit of a heads up because neither of them have seen us fight enough to know anything and vice-versa. I'd never really even seen Karabo train seriously.
"Right. This will make sure we know they can take care of either pack."
"I found a flight for tonight," Clara spoke up.
Seriously? Did someone curse me?! I felt my wolf become restless and instead of trying to calm him myself, I did it by grabbing Karabo's hand.
"Then it's settled. See you tomorrow, Eli. Good luck, Ashton, Alpha." The people on the screen disappeared and I listened to the Elders around me leave, dragging Ashton with them.
I leaned against a table as Karabo gave a sigh jumping to sit on it beside me, his leg bumping my side as it swung.
"Well, at least they didn't say no immediately..." he said skewing his face and trying to appear hopeful. I chuckled reaching out to pinch his cheek before I dropped my hand back onto his.
We settled into silence, and I honestly think neither of us knew what to say. Eventually, I spoke.
"You think Richard can handle magic?" I wasn't trying to point out that they were weak, I was genuinely concerned.
"Not at all..." Karabo shook his head.
"Ash's gonna run right into any trap you set," I mumbled.
"He's like his Alpha then." I chuckled nodding at his statement. My Beta and I really needed to work on our impulsivity...
I began chewing my lip as it settled on me that he was staying here and I was flying overseas and if anything happened while I was gone, these few hours could be the last time I saw him. I didn't even like the thought of leaving him but I already knew what it was like to be away from him and my imagination was going crazy with scenarios. Also, just the news that Galaxy's Alpha left would make other packs think they could attack, especially because we just came out of a conflict and were still recovering from that.
"Eli." I stopped breathing as a hand settled on my shoulder before I let go breathing fast and realised I had begun to panic. Karabo looked the same way I felt and I shut my eyes as he leaned on me resting his head against my own.
"They'll figure it out." He drew us back to Ashton and Richard.
"They better. Come on, help me pack." I said deciding that distracting myself would be best for the moment. I stepped forward before he could move off my shoulder and he almost fell off the table. If he'd actually fallen, I would have been concerned but he caught himself so I was delighted I'd managed to scare him.
I burst out laughing and sprinted from the hall hearing him yell and run after me. We got home and he helped me pack some clothes. I received a text from Clara informing me that my flight was just before midnight so we had dinner with my parents and brother before he drove me to the airport because Paps wouldn't let Dad drive me no matter how mad it made my Dad look. It was always funny to watch them when they disagreed on something, especially when they were linking and I could only watch their facial expressions.
"Why does it feel like I'm going off to war?" I joked as Karabo and I settled in a couple of seats in the waiting area near some cafes. He didn't reply as he took the plane ticket from my hand and I frowned. "Stop looking like I'm going to die, I'm pretty sure your pack is safe, Karabo."
"For you?" He scoffed, "I doubt."
"Hey, I grew on them after... the incident." We chuckled remembering the first time I went to his pack. "Sorry about that, again." He didn't reply, just shook his head glancing towards the board, my eyes followed his gaze to check the flight information. A few more minutes, I should already have been heading towards my gate but...
"Eli?" I looked at him raising my brows at why he suddenly felt the need to say my name so softly, but he wasn't looking at me, he was staring down at the ticket between his fingers. "Do something stupid."
"Stupid?" I asked.
"Yeah, because that comes naturally to you." He looked up at me innocently and even though I wanted to be mad at him I couldn't help but laugh. He frowned, "Stop it, I'm trying to make you angry." he said.
"Oh... So you want me to do something stupid so I can make you angry?"
"Yeah, we can have a fight and then we would have a reason to not want to see each other for a while," he said.
I stared at him dumbfounded. His words made me feel... soft? I couldn't really describe the feeling, but I knew I really didn't want to leave him. I smiled staring at his hands. I finally understood why my parents and Tamia and Ashton could not stay away from each other, though I was pretty sure their mates didn't measure up to mine.
"Eli?" Karabo spoke.
"Pretty sure that wouldn't help because then I would still want to be in the same room as you while I pretend to ignore you." I said honestly.
"Babe, your flight got call –"
I hugged him as I shut my eyes tightly. I don't know why it felt so bad when I was certain we would be apart for two or three days at the most. Hopefully. If things went as we hoped.
"I love you." I mumbled into his shoulder
"I love you too." I smiled wanting to hold him tighter but knowing very well it was impossible. Maybe I could drag him on the plane with me? It would just take compelling a few security guards...
"No, I have to fight Ash, remember?" he spoke. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Stay out of my head."
"Make me."
"Shut up, I want to remember you being handsome, you ruin it when you open your mouth," I mumbled and smiled when he laughed again.
"Eli, your flight." He was still laughing as he shoved me from him.
"Oh crap. See you later." I kissed him but stopped as our lips met and my urgency disappeared again. The kiss was short, but soft before he pulled away to push me towards the gate again, we said bye and I turned to leave. I smiled hearing him groan behind me.
"Eli, don't die." He mumbled, "And don't hug anyone. In fact, don't touch anyone, and don't cover your mark. Don't even go near humans – stay with my pack." I smiled hearing how possessive he sounded.
"As you wish, Alpha," I smirked back and saw him roll his eyes just before I lost sight of him.
*****